4 ms·

Presumably because it watches you, rather than just timing you. Personally, I've found that if I set my alarm for (some multiple of 2 hours) + 10 minutes from

by cheald 15y ago

Presumably because it watches you, rather than just timing you. Personally, I've found that if I set my alarm for (some multiple of 2 hours) + 10 minutes from the time I go to bed, I almost always wake up easily. I like 8 hours, but if I can't get that, 6 will work fine. If I can't get 6, I'll take 4 rather than 5, and while I'll be tired, I won't be "put a bullet in my head please" tired.

mikeash 15y ago
Sleep Cycle doesn't just time you. It uses the accelerometers to monitor your sleep phase and attempt to wake you up at an optimal time, just like this thing does.
- alarmclock 15y ago
  Yes, the SleepCycle App does use motion too. In fact, I had that idea before they did, but I didn't want to require the user to put the phone on the bed. That seemed really kludgy to me, so that's why I continued on my original path of embedding the motion sensor in the charging dock. I guess I missed out on like a million dollars from that decision, but you never know, maybe we'll beat that figure with this much more sensible device :).
  - mikeash 15y ago
    Putting the phone on the bed is kludgy, I agree. It's also superbly cheap, though. Anyway, thanks for the explanation. I was just wondering if there might be other advantages to this approach I might have missed. I can certainly see a niche for this version and I hope you find success.
  - alarmclock 15y ago
    Thanks again for the comments. I guess the other major selling point is that it's a charging dock. My girlfriend loses and breaks the charging cables so often that I almost wanted to switch phones so she couldn't use my charger any more. With this, I have at least one dedicated charger and charging location that she won't take away in a hurry when she's late for work and can't find hers.
    - mikeash 15y ago
      Yeah, if you want a charging dock anyway, this certainly serves a nice dual purpose. My solution to the cable problem was to buy a couple dozen off eBay for about $.70 each. This solution is not for everybody, of course.

by cheald 15y ago

mikeash 15y ago

Sleep Cycle doesn't just time you. It uses the accelerometers to monitor your sleep phase and attempt to wake you up at an optimal time, just like this thing does.

alarmclock 15y ago
Yes, the SleepCycle App does use motion too. In fact, I had that idea before they did, but I didn't want to require the user to put the phone on the bed. That seemed really kludgy to me, so that's why I continued on my original path of embedding the motion sensor in the charging dock. I guess I missed out on like a million dollars from that decision, but you never know, maybe we'll beat that figure with this much more sensible device :).
- mikeash 15y ago
  Putting the phone on the bed is kludgy, I agree. It's also superbly cheap, though. Anyway, thanks for the explanation. I was just wondering if there might be other advantages to this approach I might have missed. I can certainly see a niche for this version and I hope you find success.
- alarmclock 15y ago
  Thanks again for the comments. I guess the other major selling point is that it's a charging dock. My girlfriend loses and breaks the charging cables so often that I almost wanted to switch phones so she couldn't use my charger any more. With this, I have at least one dedicated charger and charging location that she won't take away in a hurry when she's late for work and can't find hers.
  - mikeash 15y ago
    Yeah, if you want a charging dock anyway, this certainly serves a nice dual purpose. My solution to the cable problem was to buy a couple dozen off eBay for about $.70 each. This solution is not for everybody, of course.